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Best tablets at the cheapest UK prices, from Android to iPad to Windows: a Wired.co.uk buyer's guide

With the recent release of Apple's new iPads, along with recent "makeovers" from Google and Samsung on some of their most popular products, this is one of the best times to buy a new tablet. Once you've decided which tablet to buy (if you haven't decided you should head on over to our review section) you'll want to know how much you should be paying for them, which with all the myriad "discounts" and contracts on the market, is no easy task.

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Fortunately, Wired.co.uk has scoured the internet for the best deals on five of our favourite premium tablets to help you through the buying process.

iPad air (16GB) The new iPad air is a very impressive tablet. The first product to ever receive a score of 10/10 on Wired.co.uk, you really can't go wrong picking this up at the Apple Store for what we feel is a fair asking price of £399.

Simply Electronics, which is offering the 16GB Wi-Fi only model for a very reasonable £345.95, saving you a tidy £53.05.

If for some reason you'd rather save £30 instead of £53.05, then you should go to Tesco, which is offering a £30 discount on any tablet over £349. The great thing about this deal is you can make a saving on the more expensive models too, but you'd better hurry up as this offer ends on 23 December, 2013.

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But what if you don't want to sink £399 on an iPad in one fell swoop? Worry not, you can buy the same model on contract from Three for just £119, followed by £29 a month for 15GB of 3G internet data.

Maybe you don't want 3G. Maybe you want 4G. If so, you should check out EE, which is offering the same model for an upfront cost of £149 followed by £31 a month for 5GB of 4G internet data.

Although these contract deals might look cheap and affordable, be careful -- they're potentially bleeding you dry (depending on what it is you actually need your tablet for). Both the EE and Three contracts will last 24 months, which means you'll essentially be paying £815 or £893 respectively for a £399 iPad. We advise you only get a contract deal if you absolutely must have on-the-go data, but even then something like

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5/10

ByWIRED

And that's it. Sorry, you're not going to find it any cheaper than that for now. However, the contract deals, whilst more expensive long-term, might appeal to those who need roaming data or don't care about long term cost.

Three is offering the iPad mini with Retina display for an upfront cost of £79 followed by £29 a month for 24 months of 15GB of 3G data each month, or £129 upfront for £25 a month for 24 months.

Vodafone will sell you the same model for £29 but it'll need £32 a month in return for a measly 2GB of 3G data. Vodafone's 4G data plan will set you back £37 a month for 4GB of data. 10GB is available for a ridiculous £42 a month for 24 months... that's £1,037 for an iPad mini with Retina display.

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The Surface Pro 2 is a beast. This tablet/laptop hybrid is so powerful, you can even play Battlefield 4 on it. We don't know why you'd want to do that, but you can do it.

As you might expect, it comes with a beastly price tag.

Once again (and no, it has not sponsored this buying guide before you ask) Simply Electronics offers a good deal at (£696.95). If it's sold out, have a look at Value Basket, which is currently offering the same model for the odd price of £701.99. Most other outlets seem to be listing it at £719.00 and you certainly shouldn't be paying any more than that for this model.

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It may be little, but this tablet packs quite a punch and is certainly a premium product worth your attention if you're looking for a cheaper alternative to the powerhouses above.

The cheapest we could find it was at Ebuyer for £199.98. Unfortunately most other online stores sell the Nexus for no lower than £199.99. So you'll only save a penny. Sorry about that.

However you can buy the Nexus 7 for an upfront cost of £9.99 from Three along with a monthly payment of £19.99 that gets you 5GB of 3G data each month for 24 months. Although that's £489.75 in total, which could have got you the far more powerful iPad air in the first place (without a contract).

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On contract, you can pick up the tablet for an upfront price of £29, which is coupled with £31 a month for 24 months of 5GB 4G roaming data, which comes to a grand total of £773. Again, unless you really need these roaming data plans, stay away.